Ask Me Help Desk - Hippa Violation?

I just recently had a surgey performed at a local surgey center and believe their may have been some sort of privacy violation. I spoke with someone and they said it was a Hippa violation. Anyway, I have pilonidal disease, which is located in your lower back right above the crack of your butt. During the surgery I was lying face down with my buttucks exposed and cheecks taped open. The surgery was performed on Thursday, Oct 15. On Sunday night, October 18, at appr. 9:00 P.M. I received a call on my cell phone from a number I didn't recognize and didn't answer. I then listened to the voicemail left and found out it was from an employee of the surgery center. The employee was male and obviously homosexual. I am not homophobic, however, the message was over a minute long and he asked if I was "O.K." and said he thought I was "cute" and wanted to "hang out and do stuff" while gigling throughout. He must have gone through my medical records and/or file to get my cell phone number, which means he had access to my name,address,social security number,etc. Do I have a potential lawsuit? If so, does it matter whether the employee was in the room during the surgery and saw me in that comprimising position?

I’m unable to advise you regarding any potential lawsuit. However when the HIPPA legislation became effective I became familiar with these regulations while I was involved with the development and implementation of the HIPPA policies for a health care provider.

As I understand the regulations, it would depend upon the role of the individual who telephoned you as to whether the facility was in violation or not. If that individual had a professional need to have access to these records then the facility did not violate the law. If he had no need to see the records, then the facility should have protected them from him.

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Originally Posted by evenmoney9

I just recently had a surgey performed at a local surgey center and believe their may have been some sort of privacy violation. I spoke with someone and they said it was a Hippa violation. Anyways, I have pilonidal disease, which is located in your lower back right above the crack of your butt. During the surgery I was lying face down with my buttucks exposed and cheecks taped open. The surgery was performed on Thursday, Oct 15. On Sunday night, October 18, at appr. 9:00 P.M., I received a call on my cell phone from a number I didn't recognize and didn't answer. I then listened to the voicemail left and found out it was from an employee of the surgery center. The employee was male and obviously homosexual. I am not homophobic, however, the message was over a minute long and he asked if i was "O.K." and said he thought I was "cute" and wanted to "hang out and do stuff" while gigling throughout. He must have gone through my medical records and/or file to get my cell phone number, which means he had access to my name,address,soical security number,etc. Do I have a potential lawsuit? If so, does it matter whether or not the employee was in the room during the surgery and saw me in that comprimising position?

While it's not a HIPAA violation, it certainly is unethical. I'd report the behavior to the staff member's supervisor immediately.